CamSur now a hit in world tourism

Even Governor LRay himself, whose tourism brainstorm resulting from “thinking out of the box” has definitely paid off with handsome dividends, is a bit awed by Camarines Sur’s transformation.  From an obscure and depressed province, the province’s metamorphosis into a world-class tourism destination has indeed surpassed everyone’s expectations.

In just a few years after implementing his unique development blueprint with the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CWC) which is now conceded the best cable wake park in the world and the Gota Village Resort that has placed the province in a prominent spot of global tourism as centerpieces, CamSur posted a meteoric growth in tourist arrivals, overhauling all other established destinations in the country by year 2009.

Department of Tourism (DoT) reflect CamSur registered the biggest growth in tourist arrivals, total volume reaching 1.566 million last year, just a shade lower than Cebu’s 1.6 million, up from 0.946 million in 2008 for a hefty growth of 117 percent as foreign arrivals grew by 56.1 percent while domestic tourists ballooned by 140 percent.

CamSur’s attraction, aside from a wealth of natural wonders, is largely credited to an expanded tourism campaign focused on local and international extreme sports – wakeboarding, dragon boat competitions, triathlon and a host of other watersports, have gained the province a growing reputation as Asia’s sports center.

Gota Village Resort, on the other hand, has captivated the fancy of numerous filmmakers, described by the The Philippine Star (February 22 issue) to have “surpassed Boracay’s popularity and has become the country’s prime destination.”

Located at coastal barangay Gota and a strategic jump-off point to numerous exotic islets of Lagonoy Gulf, the resort has made Caramoan Peninsula, according to the Manila Bulletin (February 21 issue), has “the most international TV exposure than any of the country’s 7,107 islands”.

The peninsula’s popularity started in 2008 when the French version of the hit reality show Survivor “Koh Lanta: Caramoan” was filmed entirely in the area.  This was followed by Survivor Bulgaria and the first version of Survivor Israel the same year, and later was also the location shoot of Survivor Serbia.

The second version of Survivor Israel, this time with two sets of contestants, will start filming late this month up to around June. (GBClaveria/MMEC)

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